How to resolve AdBlock issue? STATE: Gov. Brown selects Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar for California Supreme Court
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. has announced Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar as his choice for associate justice of the California Supreme Court.
Cuéllar, 41, of Stanford, has been a Stanford Law School professor since 2001 and was appointed Stanley Morrison Professor of Law in 2012. He has taught administrative law, criminal law and international law, among other subjects.
Cuéllar has been director of Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies since 2013 and Professor of Political Science, by courtesy, at Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences since 2010.
He served as co-director of Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation from 2011 to 2013.
“Tino Cuéllar is a renowned scholar who has served two presidents and made significant contributions to both political science and the law,” said Gov. Brown. “His vast knowledge and even temperament will – without question – add further luster to our highest court.”
Cuéllar was born in Matamoros, Mexico and for a number of years walked across the border each day to attend school in neighboring Brownsville, Texas.
At age 14, he moved with his family to the Imperial Valley of California, where he graduated from Calexico High School.
Cuéllar went on to earn a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard College, a juris doctor degree from Yale Law School and a doctor of philosophy degree in political science from Stanford University.
Cuéllar served as special assistant to the president for Justice and Regulatory Policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council in 2009 and 2010 and was co-chair of the Obama-Biden Transition’s Immigration Policy Working Group in 2008 and 2009.
He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Mary M. Schroeder at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2000 to 2001 and as senior advisor to the under secretary for enforcement at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 1997 to 1999.
“I am enormously honored by Gov. Brown's nomination, and if confirmed, I look forward to serving the people of California on our state's highest court,” said Cuéllar.
Cuéllar co-chaired the National Equity and Excellence Commission, created by Congress to advise the Secretary of Education on how to close the achievement gap in American public schools, from 2011 to 2013.
He serves as a presidential appointee to the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, an agency charged with improving the fairness and efficiency of federal administrative programs, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Constitution Project, a national bipartisan organization devoted to advancing support for the U.S. Constitution.
Cuéllar is a member of the American Law Institute Council and the American Constitution Society Board of Directors. Cuéllar is married to U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh of the Northern District of California. They have two children.
He will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of the Honorable Marvin R. Baxter on Jan. 4, 2015.
The compensation for this position is $225,342. Cuéllar is a Democrat.
The governor’s nomination must be submitted to the State Bar’s Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.
The Commission on Judicial Appointments consists of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and senior presiding justice of the state Court of Appeal Joan Dempsey Klein.
If confirmed by the commission, the nominee will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot for voter approval.
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Two new reserve officers join Lakeport Police Department
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department has welcomed to its ranks two new reserve officers.
Dustin Roderick and Tyler Trouette joined the force and were sworn in by City Clerk Janel Chapman at the Lakeport City Council's July 15 meeting.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen then pinned the badges on both of the young men.
Rasmussen said of the badges, “I want you to remember what these things stand for,” explaining that the badges belong to the people of Lakeport, who the officers will serve.
Both Roderick and Trouette are reserve level one officers, meaning they will have full police powers while on duty, Rasmussen told Lake County News.
“They're going to be starting training to be full designated level one reserves,” Rasmussen said, which will give them the same peace officer powers at all times as regular officers possess.
Once their training is complete, they will then be eligible to work shifts, Rasmussen said.
Roderick, who was born and raised in Sonoma County, currently resides in Windsor with his longtime girlfriend, Jessica Spitzer and works out of Santa Rosa for Mesa Beverage Co. where he is a delivery truck driver. He's also an avid motorcycle enthusiast and formerly raced motocross at an expert level, according to Rasmussen.
Rasmussen said Roderick attended the Santa Rosa Junior College Police Academy in 2009 in Windsor where he obtained his certificate from the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST.
Trouette was born and raised in Ukiah, where he currently resides and works for his father’s plumbing business. He's an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys hunting and abalone diving on the coast, Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen said Trouette graduated from the Santa Rosa Junior College Police Academy in May 2013, where he was top of his class in physical training and defensive tactics.
The Lakeport Police Department has been conducting testing for officers since the beginning of the year, and recently had opened another application process that closed in June, Rasmussen said.
He said the goal is to have a group of candidates to choose from if and when police officer positions come open in the future.
“These two reserves were also applying for future positions here in the department,” Rasmussen said, noting they decided to come on as reserves since there were no current openings.
Currently, the Lakeport Police Department is authorized for 10 full-time officers, with all of those positions filled. Two of the department's officers are on leave, Rasmussen said.
“Right now we are putting together a plan to formally request a full-time detective position,” he said.
Rasmussen also is working on an application to the US Department of Justice for a three-year grant for a full-time school resources officer.
That position would be funded jointly by the police department and the Lakeport Unified School District, he said.
A school resource officer position previously had served the district but due to budget cutbacks hasn't been funded for the last few years.
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Clearlake Police Department honors community member's donation to K9 program
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department offered a very public thank you earlier this month to a community member for her generous donation to the agency's K9 program.
During the July 10 Clearlake City Council meeting, Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen presented Clearlake resident Charlotte Griswold with a plaque and picture of the K9 team.
Griswold made a “gold level” donation of $2,500 to the K9 team.
Such donations are crucial, as the program operates entirely on fundraising – such as its benefit dinner and dance held in June – and donations from the community.
Clausen said the cost per team is about $10,000 for the canine, equipment and training.
The department currently has three K9 teams, including one that is crossed-trained in protection as well as detection.
Donations of any amount are appreciated.
For donation information call the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251.
Visit the Clearlake Police K9 Unit's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CPDK9 .
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Police arrest man for DUI following Sunday morning crash
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence early Sunday after crashing his car near a Clearlake restaurant.
Juan Barnabe, 26, was involved in the solo-vehicle wreck and afterward was taken into custody, according to Sgt. Tim Hobbs of the Clearlake Police Department.
As of Sunday afternoon, police had not confirmed Barnabe's city of residence, Hobbs said.
Hobbs said that at approximately 6:19 a.m. Barnabe was driving eastbound on Lakeshore Drive at a high rate of speed when he lost control of his vehicle – a green 1995 Honda Civic EX – and went off the road at Lakeshore and Emory Avenue.
Barnabe's car rolled and came to rest on its roof on the north edge of the property where Howard's Grotto restaurant is located, Hobbs said.
The car hit a concrete pole and also took out a sign, according to Hobbs.
Lake County Fire units were dispatched to the scene shortly after 6:30 a.m. on the report of an arm injury as a result of the crash, according to radio reports.
Barnabe was the vehicle's solo occupant, Hobbs said.
“He was transported to the hospital to get medical treatment for some injuries and then after he was arrested for DUI,” Hobbs said.
Clearlake Police officers have not had previous contacts with Barnabe, according to Hobbs.
Last November, a pickup traveling at a high rate of speed crashed into another vehicle before hitting the Howard's Grotto building, as Lake County News has reported.
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Board of Supervisors certifies final election canvass; sheriff, district attorney among officials declared elected
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday evening accepted the final results for the June 3 primary and, in so doing, declared the election of the new sheriff, the district attorney and several other county offices.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley had until 5 p.m. Tuesday to finish the final election canvass, which had begun first thing June 4, the day after the primary.
Board Chair Denise Rushing said at the Tuesday meeting that Fridley had believed she would need all of that time, thus the decision to schedule the meeting at a special time in the evening rather than the usual morning start time.
However, Rushing pointed out that Fridley bested her own estimate by about a day, releasing the final numbers Monday evening.
Fridley took to the board a resolution certifying the final canvass and declaring elected officials who had either been unopposed or who received 50 percent plus one vote in fields of two or more.
Those running unopposed were Brock Falkenberg, seeking the county superintendent of schools job; Cathy Saderlund, the county clerk and auditor-controller; and Barbara Ringen, treasurer-tax collector.
Incumbent District Attorney Don Anderson received 59.1 percent of the vote over challenger Andre Ross, who had 40.9 percent of the vote, and so Anderson was declared elected in the resolution.
Brian Martin also was declared elected as Lake County's new sheriff. He received 52.1 percent of the vote to beat incumbent Frank Rivero, who had 25.6 percent, and retired Clearlake Police Chief Bob Chalk, with 22.3 percent.
Measure L, a half-cent sales tax to help restore and improve the health of Clear Lake and other local water bodies, fell just short of the supermajority of 66.7 percent that it needed, bringing in 65.2 percent.
“County Measure L failed by not very much,” Fridley said.
Measure N, which institutes rules for medical marijuana cultivation, received the needed majority, coming in with with a “yes” vote of 51.6 percent, with no votes totaling 48.4 percent, according to Fridley.
The measure becomes law on July 11. State election law provides that after the election is certified such measures go into effect 10 days afterward.
Fridley also explained to the board the public manual tally of a minimum 1-percent of randomly selected precincts her office was required to complete as part of the canvass process.
That count, which took place beginning on June 17, is required of counties like Lake that use electronic ballot counting devices, she said.
The county must include each and every contest on the local ballot, so Fridley said they counted one precinct each from Middletown, Clearlake and Upper Lake.
Fridley said the canvassing board found only one discrepancy between the manual count and the machine. It involved a ballot that had a very small dot in the middle of a rectangle next to a particular candidate's name.
The ballot counting machine had counted that as a vote for that candidate, she said.
“It was obvious to me that the voter did not intend to vote for that candidate,” Fridley added.
She also reported that there were no qualified write-in candidates during the primary.
The initial election night results indicated that turnout was at 28.5 percent, which Fridley said improved to 45.7 percent with the canvass completed.
As of election night, Fridley's staff had counted 9,703 ballots, and after the election they counted another 5,845 ballots, of which 611 were provisionals cast at precincts and 5,234 were absentees.
Fridley said in this election 30.6 percent of ballots were by absentee voters, with 15.2 percent cast at precincts.
The board voted unanimously to accept Fridley's resolution accepting the official canvass and the statement of votes cast for the Statewide Direct Primary Election, and declaring Anderson, Falkenberg, Martin, Ringen and Saderlund elected.
Fridley thanked Deputy County Administrative Officer Alan Flora for coming up to help her with the county on Monday.
Fridley had a number of observers of the count, and had been under increasing pressure due to Lake County's vote count essentially deciding the tight race for the Democratic Party's place on the ticket in the November state controller's race.
She received a round of applause following the resolution's acceptance.
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